Can seaming mechanism



March 20, 1962 F. s. CURRIE ETAL 3,025,814

' CAN SEAMING MECHANISM Filed Aug. 12, 1959 i 4? .56 v 4 |||I|||| 4/4 Vfi V "/6 Adz-51 a 3,025,814 CAN SEAMING MECHANISM Frank Sherman Currie,Cranford, and Walter Albert Gueifroy, Smoke Rise, N.J., assignors toAmerican Car! Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey FiledAug. 12, 1959, Ser. No. 833,302 3 Claims. (Cl. 11322) v rotated and thusput a drag on the end. Such skidding results in incomplete seams, butfortunately is not a major problem and can usually be controlled byproper adjustment of the mechanism of the seaming machine. However, evenif such adjustments are carefully made, skidding does occursporadically. The exact cause of the skidding frequently cannot bedefinitely ascertained, but it is believed to be connected withvariations in the surface characteristics of a particular batch of endsbeing used which sometimes so reduce the coefficient of friction betweenthe contacting surfaces of the ends and the rotating can seaming chucksthat skidding results. This problem is perhaps most often encountered inseaming beaded beer can ends to beer can bodies, and is probably due tothe fact that such ends are made in a wide variety of finishes, such asmetallic tin, and various types of pigmented and unpigmented lacquersand enamels.

Attempts have been made in the past to eliminate this skidding of theends by means of special chuck constructions, but such attempts havegenerally proved unsuccessful.

The present invention provides a seaming chuck which substantiallyeliminates such skidding. The chuck of the instant invention is providedwith an annular inclined groove which provides a seat for a rubberfriction ring which projects below the undersurface of the chuck and iscompressed against the upper-surface of the can end during the seamingoperation to provide a non-skid engagement between the chuck and the canend. The invention contemplates that contact between this rubberfriction ring and the can end be made on the inner portion of anupwardly projecting rounded bead formed in the can end in order that asubstantially conical area of engagement, somewhat similar to thatencountered in the conventional cone type clutch, be established tosubstantially increase the resistance to slippage between the chuck andthe can end. It has been found that this construction provides a chuckwhich substantially eliminates slippage between the chuck and the canend.

In its preferred form, the rubber friction ring comprises a rubberO-ring of the type which is commercially available in most areas andthus can be easily replaced at low cost. Also, because of its roundedcross-section, the O-ring can be easily inserted and removed from theundercut groove without the use of special tools.

An object of the invention therefore is the provision of an improved canseamer chuck which prevents slippage of the can end during the seamingoperation and thus improves the quality of the finished double seam.

Another object of the invention is the provision of such a chuck whichis simple in construction and which incorporates a low cost frictionring which is securely held in place but which may be easily removed andreplaced when required.

3,825,814 Patented Mar. 20, 1962 A further object is the provision of anon-skidding chuck provided with a resilient friction ring which isengageable against a beaded surface of the can end in order to provide asubstantially conical area of frictional contact which is resistant toskidding.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentas it is better understood from the following description, which, takenin connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferredembodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a can seaming machine whichutilizes a chuck made according to the principles of the instantinvention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the friction ring which is used to provide anonskidding surface in the seaming chuck;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken radiallythrough the chuck and the can body and end just prior to the applicationof longitudinally applied pressure between the chuck and the can end,parts being broken away; and

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the deformation of therubber ring during the application of such pressure.

As a preferred and exemplary embodiment of the instant invention, thedrawings illustrate the principle parts of the can body seaming machineof the type disclosed in United States Patent 2,447,525 to Nordquist,issued August 24, 1948, and entitled Can Closing Machine. This machinepreferably includes a rotatable seaming turret 10 which comprises anupper Web 12 and a lower web 14 which respectively center and support acan end A and a can body B which are to be joined in a double seam.

The can end A comprises a countersunk fiat central panel 16 which at itsouter edge merges into an upwardly projecting annular bead 18 having agently rounded upper surface. The bead 18 merges into an upstandingannular countersink wall 20 which at its upper end merges into ahorizontal flange 22 which is provided with an edge curl 24. The flange22 is lined with the usual lining compound 26 which functions to makethe completed seam hermetic. The can end A is guided into the turret 10by a semi-circular pocket 26 of a rotating cover feed turret 28 (FIG.1), and is received on a horizontal ledge 30 of a semi-circular pocket32 formed in the upper turret web 12.

The can body B comprises a tubular cylindrical side wall 34 formed atits upper end with an annular flange 36 and includes an imperforate endmember 38 double seamed to its bottom end, said can body being receivedfrom a feed-in conveyor (not shown) on a horizontal annular ledge 40 ofa circular pocket 42 formed in the lower turret web 14. Both the can endA and the can body B are fed into the turret 10 at about the same time.As initially received in the seaming machine, the can end A is spacedvertically above the can body B as seen in FIG. 1. However, as soon asthe body B has been received in the pocket 42, a litter plunger 44 movesupwardly into engagement against the bottom end 38 of the can body B andmoves the body B upwardly off the ledge 40 and into engagement with thecan end A, and continues its upward motion to lift the can end Aupwardly off the ledge 30 and bring it into engagement with a knock-outpad '46 which is disposed in vertical alignment with the plunger 44 andis mounted on the bottom end of a stem 48. The plunger 44 continues itsupward motion, carrying with it the can body B, the can end A and theknock-out pad 46 and eventually brings the can end A into engagementwith a positively rotated seaming chuck which comprises the subject ofthe instant invention and which frictionally engages the can end A andfrictionally rotates it during the seaming operation.

The positively rotated seaming chuck comprises a chuck body 50 which ismounted at the bottom end of a rotatable 'hollow shaft 52 and is formedwith a central recess 54 which receives the knock-out pad 46. The chuckbody 50 is of a size and shape'to fit into the can end A, and its bottomend is provided with an annular upright back-up wall 56 which closelyengages within the annular countersink wall 20 of the can end A and thusprovide s the required internal support during the formation of the endseam by a conventional first operation seaming roll 57 and a secondoperation seaming roll (not shown). The seaming rolls are freelyrotatable, and are not positively driven other than through theirfrictional contact with the rotating can end A.

The bottom end of the chuck 50 is provided with an annular recess 58which overlies the can end bead 18. The outer portion of the recess 58comprises a shallow annular groove 59 which receives the outer portionof the upwardly extending bead 18 of the can end A. The inner portion ofthe recess 58 comprises a much deeper, annular, oppositely inclinedrecess or groove portion 60 which is disposed immediately adjacent,constitutes a vertical continuation of the shallow annular groove 59.The relativelydeep recess portion 60 is formed with inwardlyinclined'inner and outer Walls 62, 64 and an outwardly inclinedconnecting wall 66.

'A resilient friction member or ring 68, in the preferred form of theinvention comprises an O-ring of circular cross-section constructed ofrubber or other resilientmaterial having a suitable frictional surface,and is disposed in the deep recess portion 60. Said friction ring 68 isfirmly retained within the recess portion 60 spacing between theinclined groove walls 62, 64, and

said ring contacts the three recess walls 62, 64, 66, the bottom of therubber ring 68 projecting below the bottom of the chuck body 50 andbeing disposed inwardly of the shallow groove 59, is so located that itengages the inner portion of the annular bead 18 of the can end A. Theinitial contact between the friction ring or annulus 68 and the can endA occurs at or near the juncture of the bead 18 and the can end panel16. However, as the lifter plunger 44 reaches the top of its stroke itexerts considerable pressure against the can body B and this pressure istransmitted to the can end A, thus forcing it firmly against the rubberring 68 and causing temporary deformation or flattening of the rubberring 68 (see FIG. 4) thus increasing the area of frictional engagementbetween the ring 68 and the can end A.

As seen in FIG. 4, the deformed rubberring 68 frictionally engages theinner portion or slope of the can end bead 18 over an area of contactwhich is inclined in a generally upward and outward direction and whichbead, although gently curved, is substantially fruto-conical in shapeand functions in the manner of a cone clutch to create a very effectivenonslipping driving connection between the seaming chuck and the can endA. The effectiveness of this engagement is further enhanced by the factthat the can end bead 18 provides a very rigid rein- 4 forced can endportion which resists downward flexing and thus maintains firm contactwith the rubber friction ring 68.

As seen in FIG. 4 the rubber ring 68 assumes its fully deformedcondition when the chuck body 50 is fully seated within the can end A.In this position, the backup Wall 56 of the chuck is in intimateengagement with the countersink wall 20 of the end A. When thiscondition is obtained, the first operation seaming roll 57 movesinwardly into rolling frictional engagement against the rotating can endflange 22 (see FIG. 4) and performs the first seaming operation, afterwhich the second operation seaming roll moves in as described in theaforementioned United States Patent 2,447,525 to complete the seamingoperation. During the entire seaming operation, the can lifter plunger44 continues to exert an up- Ward pressure against the can body B andthus maintains the pressured nonskid engagement between the can end Aand the seaming chuck body 50.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantageswill be understood from the foregoing description, and it will beapparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction andarrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the formhereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

We claim:

1. In a can seaming machine, the combination of a rotatable chuck havingmeans for positively rotating the same, said chuck having a bottom endengageable with a can end applied to a can body for backing up androtating said end and body during a seaming operation thereon by aseaming roll frictionally rotated thereby, an annular recess in saidchuck opening into its said bottom end, said recess including radiallyspaced inner and outer walls with said inner wall angularly inclinedrelative to the axis of said chuck, and a resilient deformable frictionring of substantially circular cross section housed within said recessand confined against displacement therefrom by said angularly inclinedrecess wall, the lower portion of said ring projecting downwardly fromsaid recess for resilient deformable engagement with said can end toimpart frictional rotation thereto by said chuck and to insure againstslipping of said can end relative to said chuck during the seamingoperation.

2. The can seaming machine of claim 1 wherein both of said radiallyspaced recess walls are angularly inclined relative to the chuck axisand said recess merges into a relatively shallow concentric recessportion for receiving an annular reenforcing bead on said can end, saidfriction ring being engageable as described with said head to insuresaid frictional rotation of the can end by said chuck without slipping.

3. The can seaming machine of claim 1 wherein said friction ring is anOring removably confined in said chuckrecess with its 'lower annularportion depending therefrom.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

